


While you were...

by Lysambre



Category: Naruto
Genre: M/M, bottom Iruka
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-06-29
Packaged: 2018-02-06 18:11:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1867515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysambre/pseuds/Lysambre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kakashi's new mission : follow Kurenai and her new boyfriend.</p><p><b>Contains (Highlight to view):</b> <span class="spoiler">Some swearing, some hints of domestic violence</span></p><p><b>Prompt/Scenario:</b> #7 by Aviss: Fake relationship, with a twist. Think "While you were sleeping". For whatever reason one of them is pretending to be in a relationship with someone else when they fall for each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	While you were...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my wonderful beta, [Mischief](http://archiveofourown.org/users/mischief5), who once again saved me from the pits of grammatical despair.

Kakashi was at the memorial stone when Asuma found him. Not a difficult guess considering Kakashi spent all of his mornings there. Kakashi sat at the foot of the monument, his favourite Icha Icha book in one hand, the other hand on the cold smooth surface.

Kakashi had noticed Asuma before he came out of the forest surrounding the square, but hadn't said anything as he walked slowly if not particularly quietly toward him, seemingly more out of self-reflection than a desire to hide his presence from Kakashi.

"Yo, Asuma." Kakashi greeted him when Asuma walked out of the tree line to the stone. Asuma seemed to be pondering what to say before he looked up, almost surprised to hear Kakashi.

"Kakashi! I was…" Asuma looked behind him at the trees, but his sight went much further, back to the village. "I was looking for you, actually."

Kakashi turned a page of his book. "You don't say."

Asuma appeared to be embarrassed for a fraction of a second, and then his posture changed. He had made his decision about his reason to be here, disturbing Kakashi in his morning routine.

"I need your help." Asuma said, making Kakashi look up from his book.

"You. Need my help? Now you've got me curious, Asuma. Do tell." Kakashi got up and put his book in his waist satchel. His morning routine may not have been ruined for nothing after all.

"I've seen Kurenai with a man. I want you to find out who he is." Asuma's words were clear and concise. His face, though, was another story. Kakashi would refrain, for once, from teasing him. Asuma had always taken the teasing as the proof of friendship it was, but if he was that upset over the situation, then it might mean he thought Kurenai was finally as out of reach as he had often imagined she may have been in the past.

Asuma rubbed the back of his neck, not even conscious of how telling it was in this moment. "I just… I need to be sure he's a good man. I…"

"Asuma," Kakashi cut in, "I'll find out. Give me a week." He turned back to the memorial stone, getting his book back from the satchel and resumed his sitting position beside the monument, the hand not holding the book back on the stone.

Asuma lit a new cigarette and walked away.

*******

It only took Kakashi a day to find out who Kurenai's new boyfriend was. He wasn't a mysterious man by any means, so that had not been very hard work, but it was also just the surface. A name and a job only told a tiny part of the story, and Kakashi assumed that Asuma wanted the other part of that story.

Iruka Umino, assistant teacher, orphan since the Kyuubi attack, three years younger than Kakashi. Had made chuunin quite late compared to others, but that might be related to his career choice since he was apparently quite a good ninja all around. He was well liked by most.

That was the surface of this man. What Kurenai saw in him in comparison to Asuma was a mystery to Kakashi, but then again, Asuma had been pretending not to be interested in Kurenai for the past few years, deciding on his own that she deserved someone closer to her age despite her obvious interest in him.

Kurenai was currently holding the young assistant teacher by hand, pulling him toward a weapon shop. They didn't stay in for long, and as they walked out, they seemed to show each other some of what they had bought. Kakashi was a bit surprised to see three new sharp kunai in the young man's hands. Teachers were usually the most peaceful bunch in the village and they had little need for new weapons in the classroom. Yet, Kurenai didn't seem at all surprised to see Umino's purchases. If anything, she looked as if she was encouraging him to take some of the smoke bombs she had bought for herself. Umino appeared embarrassed, if the way he was touching the scar on his nose was any indication. This would be worth digging into.

They did some more shopping, apparently disagreeing on what the evening meal would be. Umino was obviously heading toward Ichiraku for some ramen but Kurenai kept making a face and pointing toward the food shop. They ended up buying some fresh food and heading back to Kurenai's place.

Kakashi wondered for a minute if Asuma would want him to breach Kurenai's privacy just to get informations about her new boyfriend. Kakashi was curious though; Iruka Umino was quite interesting for a young teacher, from what he had seen so far. He jumped from roof to roof, only stopping when he found a small niche, hidden from outside view. He had a nice view inside Kurenai's kitchen and main room. Both rooms were glowing with light in the falling night, making the occupants visible to him as if they were tiny characters on his TV.

They cooked their meal, ate together while chatting about things Kakashi could not hear, and after the dishes were done, both settled to do their own thing. Umino went over some papers, grading or planning the lesson ahead probably, while Kurenai tended to her plants. As far as couple went, they were quite normal, even a bit boring, Kakashi thought.

He was thinking of retiring for the evening when he caught some movement close to Kurenai's window. A man, a Konoha ninja from the look of his hitai-ate, grey hair not quite shoulder length, around Kurenai's age. A new player had just entered the story, making it slightly less boring than it had seemed.

****

The next day, Kakashi followed the new player. Toji Mizuki, Chuunin, Umino's childhood friend, and bad news all around. He seemed to be quite good at deceiving the people close to him from what his ex-girlfriend had been saying to some hi-ranked Jounin. She was the one who had warned the Konoha higher-ups that he was well on the way to cause trouble if the occasion arose.

Kakashi had not detected any ill intent toward the village itself from Mizuki, but the killing aura directed at Umino the previous night had been strong enough to knock the breath out of him for a second. How could a guy with so much hatred be friends with Umino? From all Kakashi had heard and seen, Umino Iruka was a model citizen in the village these days, helpful to all, nice to the elderly, always ready to take a shift if needed. His only flaw, if it really was one, seemed to be his ability to trust pretty much anyone from the get go.

Kakashi followed Mizuki until the evening. As he wondered about going back to his hideout to observe another evening at Kurenai's, he realised Mizuki was heading toward Umino's house, not anywhere near the path he should have taken to go back to his own flat, in a shadier part of the village.

There was a light on at Umino's, and Mizuki didn't knock nor did he wait for an invitation before barging in. Umino was there, obviously, but Kakashi couldn't hear Kurenai from where he was, hidden beside the main room window. The sounds coming from inside weren't clear, but when Mizuki started screaming, the little Kakashi heard had him reaching for a kunai in his pouch.

"… that bitch you're seeing... think you can ditch me for such… I'm going to teach you who's the master here, and you'll…" There was the mystery, of course. Not a childhood friend anymore, but a scorned lover who had not handled rejection well. Kakashi looked through the window, waiting for the same kind of verbal explosion from Umino, as he had already become quite famous for the few times it had happened, making people smile more often than it scared them.

Instead, he saw Umino in a corner of the room, curled up, as if waiting for a blow… a blow he would obviously not defend himself from taking! What was wrong with that young man? He could stand up to a room full of Jounin who may have just assassinated someone in another village and yet here he was, taking all that abuse without moving a muscle to defend himself.

Mizuki raised his fist above Umino, but just as Kakashi was about to break in through the window, he saw Kurenai launching an attack at the grey haired man. She must have been waiting in another room. Smoke bombs were finally used, kunai thrown, and before he knew it, Mizuki was inside a genjutsu of Kurenai's own creation. The man fell in under a minute.

Kurenai sent a summoning jutsu, calling out for the ANBU. It was time for Kakashi to retire for the evening, as he didn't want to answer the ANBU questions about what he had been doing outside Umino's window.

He had more questions to ask, but the puzzle seemed to be resolving itself in quite a different direction from where he had thought it would be. Far from the boring couple they had appeared to be the previous day, these two were titillating Kakashi's interest, and it was time he confronted them. Waiting in the shadows would bring no further information.

****

The next morning, Kakashi found Umino alone on the training field. Umino must have been there for some time already, his dark skin covered with a sheen of perspiration. He was going through a series of kata, a short series of fast moves followed by a longer one of slow motions requiring attention and deep muscle control. Kakashi found himself mesmerized by the young man. The fluidity and control of the slow kata was breathtaking, while the anger behind the series of fast kata made his heart beat in sync with the movements.

"You must think me weak now."

For a few seconds, Kakashi wondered who Umino was talking to, but since there was no one else, it was obvious he had caught Kakashi spying on him. Well, he had been planning to talk to him later that day anyway, so, might as well do it now.

"Weak? Why would you think such a thing, Umino sensei?" Kakashi answered.

Umino stopped in the middle of a series, which made Kakashi regret speaking up. He had been enjoying that! Maybe a bit too much considering this was Kurenai's boyfriend. But here, with those hands on his hips, hair coming out of the ponytail erratically, obviously irate at Kakashi's pretense of ignorance, skin all glowy from the exercise, Umino Iruka was even more attractive than usual.

"I prefer Iruka sensei, if you don't mind, and please stop playing the idiot with me Hatake san. I'm part of the mission room staff; I know full well how smart you are. Although, given your lack of discretion for the past few days, one could be led to wonder how you manage to come back alive from the dangerous missions you're being sent on!" Umino, or rather, Iruka was more on edge by the minute. If Kakashi didn't defuse this situation quickly, he'd be on the receiving end of a verbal whipping like he had seen in the mission room once, and that was something he definitely wanted to avoid.

"Iruka sensei, I prefer Kakashi san, then if you don't mind. And I've never once thought you were weak in any way." Kakashi meant those words. Not once had he thought Umino was weak.

"Stop mocking me!" Iruka screamed at him. "I know you were outside last night! I know you saw everything! You saw how I was so weak I needed a friend to defend me against Mizuki! The way I couldn't even stand in front of him, let alone act like a proper ninja! You saw, you were…" Kakashi took Iruka's flying hands in his, anchoring the man for a minute to help him out of his outburst of anger.

"Yes, I was there and yes, I saw," Kakashi said in a low voice, "but I can promise you, Iruka sensei, that none of what I saw last night made me think, at any point, that you were a weak man. All right?" Kakashi emphasized his words by clasping Iruka's hands tighter. "Someone who is being abused isn't weak. If anything, they are stronger than the rest of us."

Iruka had calmed down enough to shake his hands out of Kakashi's. He wasn't screaming anymore, but Kakashi could hear all the self-doubt and recrimination in his tone.

"Stronger? Are you mocking me again? I've always been weak with Mizuki. I know it; you don't need to patronize me, Kakashi san." He kept touching his hair as he was talking and Kakashi suddenly had a picture of Iruka lying down, hair untied and framing his face. This was a terrible time to realise he was attracted to this man.

"I'm not. You are strong, Iruka sensei. You're strong because you can love someone enough to forgive them the abuse they have been throwing at you. I know that you've known Mizuki since you were both children, and I realise that this must have been going on for a long time. With any other ninja, vengeance would have made them kill that old friend with no care, but you? With you, Mizuki had plenty of chances to reform, to try to get better, and to seek counseling. You were strong enough to give him that chance, but he was too weak to take it. Out of the two of you, he's the weak one, Iruka sensei, not you." Kakashi had come closer to Iruka as he was talking, backing the man against a tree stump until their face were close enough to breath each other's air.

He saw Iruka's eyes dart to his mouth and started to lean in instinctively.

"You're all right there, Iruka sensei?" The voice had Kakashi and Iruka jumping a foot in the air. Kakashi took a step back and shook himself off mentally. He had been so taken by the young man that he had not heard Gai approach; he really needed his brain to be knocked back in his head. This was not going to lead anywhere anyway.

"Gai." Kakashi nodded his greeting, but Gai seemed more concerned with Iruka. Now this was another surprise. Funny how Kakashi kept being surprised when he was around Iruka.

"Are you all right, Iruka sensei?" Gai repeated and Kakashi turned back toward the young man. Iruka's eyes were fixed on him, astonishment and realization written all over his face, and Kakashi sent a quick prayer above for his mask, which prevented Gai from seeing his eternal rival blush like a schoolboy.

Iruka Sensei was blushing quite nicely, the scar on his nose making a beautiful contrast with his heated face. Kakashi wanted to kiss that scar too. Groaning internally at his own idiocy for wanting what was not his to take, he turned the other way, fished the Icha Icha book from his satchel and pretended to be absorbed in his reading.

"I'm fine, Gai sensei, thank you for your concern." Iruka finally responded.

"Are you sure?" Gai insisted, "My eternal rival seemed to be leaning. I wouldn't want you to feel intimidated, Iruka sensei."

"I was not leaning," Kakashi interjected, only to be cut off by the two men at the same time.

"You were definitely leaning!" they said in perfect unison. Gai and Iruka laughed at Kakashi together, and while Kakashi could have done without that, it had at least cut off the tension that had been building between them before Gai arrived.

Iruka looked toward the rising sun and started to gather his belongings. "I need to get back home; I have a class in an hour. Excuse me, Gai sensei, Kakashi san." He bowed slightly toward them before adding, "oh, and Kakashi san, thank you, I accept your invitation at Ichiraku for tonight after my shift at the mission room. Maybe you can convince Asuma san to join us?"

As if there was a way for Kakashi to resist the power of the puppy dog eyes Iruka was aiming at him. "Sure." There, short and to the point. Iruka was turning heels already and Kakashi needed to escape before Gai could decide he wanted to spar for the next five hours.

He needed to find Asuma, convince him he wanted to invite them all to Ichiraku, and then he'd have the rest of the day to bang his head against a well to stop imagining Iruka sweating under him, hair untied, in a bed. This was hopeless.

***

In the end, Kakashi simply lied. There was no way Asuma would have agreed to meet the two lovers otherwise and Kakashi wanted to hear what Iruka had to say. Truthfully, he wanted a lot more than just to hear what Iruka had to say, and that was a brand new problem he very much did not need in his life.

Kakashi threw a look at Asuma beside him. He had told him he'd make his report on the situation only if Asuma treated him to ramen, and the worry on his face could not be mistaken for anything else.

They had not planned it, but fate had it that the two pairs arrived in front of Ichiraku at the same time. Kurenai and Asuma both took a step back in surprise at each other's presence. Asuma started to turn toward Kakashi in anger, but before he could start to berate him, Iruka stepped forward and bowed down in two in front of the older Jounin.

"Asuma san, please accept my apologies. Kurenai only deceived you to help me out of a difficult situation. There is nothing between us but friendship. I'm very sorry we had to betray your trust."

At the end of his little speech, Kurenai took his arm, helping him to stand upright again.

"Iruka, stop, you don't need to do that. There's nothing to apologise for. There is nothing between Asuma and me." As she talked, she faced Asuma, unapologetic of what had happened and beautiful in her defiance at the man she had been pursuing for so long.

Asuma didn't move a muscle for a minute, just silently staring at Kurenai. His eyes went down to where her hand was still holding onto Iruka's arm, and his face clouded.

"Iruka sensei, Kakashi, please go on to eat, my treat. Kurenai…" As he looked up to her face, Asuma's anger seemed to evaporate, leaving behind a man who had been lonely for too long. "Kurenai, can we talk somewhere a bit more private?"

The fierce kunoichi nodded her head, took Asuma by the hand, and led him to whatever place she deemed the best to talk… and maybe more than just talk.

And that left Kakashi alone with Iruka. Who apparently was not with Kurenai.

"Ne, let's go eat sensei? Food always tastes better when it's paid for by someone else." Kakashi pushed the little flag aside while talking, making room for Iruka to pass, and chose a space for them. The young man walked in and sat them on the side, ordering for them both before he turned back to Kakashi.

"I guess what we have to talk about will have to wait after the food then, or do you wish to speak of it in such a public place, Kakashi san?" There was mischief written all over his face, making his eyes shine, and allowing Kakashi to finally see a smile on that beautiful face.

"Oh, don't worry, Iruka sensei, I fully intend to offer you dessert later on." Kakashi supported his claim by letting his hand rest high on Iruka's leg. Iruka didn't shake it off, but instead sat just a little bit closer to Kakashi.

"That's good; dessert is my favorite part of the meal."

And that ended the subject, as two steaming bowls of ramen where set under their noses. They ate in companionable silence, thanking Teuchi for the excellent meal once they were done.

Kakashi didn't ask any questions and started to walk toward his own house. There was too much history in Iruka's home for them to feel comfortable starting something there. The walk home was mostly silent, save for a few people greeting Iruka, parents of some of the children he helped teach at the academy.

They got inside, took off their shoes, and before Kakashi even had time to think about what he could say, he was pushed against the wall against the wall, divested of his mask after he nodded his agreement and being kissed senseless by an eager Iruka. There was no finesse in the kiss but the enthusiasm made over for that.

Kakashi took Iruka's face in his hand, turning him slightly on the right, and there you go, perfect fit. Kakashi licked at Iruka's lips, helping them open just enough to touch his tongue gently against Iruka's. A moan of desire was his answer but then Iruka pulled himself from the kiss and let his forehead fall onto Kakashi's shoulder.

"Give me… Give me just a minute, or I'm going to come in my pants right here. And I don't want that." As Iruka spoke in a breathy voice, Kakashi took the liberty of untying his hair. It fell down on his hands and he pushed Iruka away just enough to have a good look at his beautiful, framed face.

"I dreamt of you like this, hair down, totally undone, under me, in my bed. Do you want that? Will you give yourself to me tonight, Iruka?" He punctuated his questions with little kisses all over Iruka's face.

"Yes. Tonight, I'm yours; tomorrow, we talk." Iruka said.

"Tomorrow we talk." Kakashi repeated.

There would be ample time to talk in the morning, and hopefully the next few days; who knows, maybe even longer than that. But tonight, Kakashi and Iruka would become one, at least for a little while.

With one last deep kiss, Kakashi took Iruka's hand and led him to the bedroom.

"How about we see what's on the menu for dessert then."

The end

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to leave a comment below, or at the [LJ post](http://kakairu-fest.livejournal.com/121932.html?mode=reply#add_comment)!


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